


The Prologues: Heroes and Villains

by NonbinaryNerdbot



Series: Dark Pasts, Forgotten Loses [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-10-01 20:28:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20395558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NonbinaryNerdbot/pseuds/NonbinaryNerdbot
Summary: A peek into the past of our heroes and villains, and how they all came to be.These stories may contain adult themes and language. Reader discretion is advised





	The Prologues: Heroes and Villains

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of a series, and can be read in any order, although it would make more sense to follow the series.  
Graphic depictions of violence, character death, and child abuse is in this chapter.
> 
> This chapter focuses on Decibel, other chapters will focus on other characters.

Alex laid on the ground, staring at the wide open, soft blue sky, letting their mind go blank. This was one of their favorite activities, just letting their mind go blank as the world spun around them. While their powers didn't stop, they had gotten to the point in their meditation practice that whatever input given in by their powers, that sometimes got to the point of overwhelming them, faded to a distant buzzing in the back of their mind, not even registering as full thoughts. Vaguely, they registered one of the thoughts drifting across their mind in the warm haze of the sun was a memory of their childhood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

A young Alex laid in a very similar position to the current Alex, staring at a sky that was a little cloudier, a little dimmer, and not nearly as relaxing, as Alex struggled to ignore the millions and millions of little thoughts that their powers constantly pumped into their waking consciousness. Alex had been reading about "meditation", which apparently taught people how to make their minds go blank. Alex kept trying, but they kept getting frustrated. It was hard and they didn't understand. Every time they thought they had it, another thought would appear and break their concentration. They finally got too frustrated, throwing themselves back to their feet, stomping up to their house, planting themselves in the small confines of their old playhouse, the multicolored plastic warm from the midday sun and crowded with spider webs and other scattered bugs. Frustrated they rubbed their eyes, ignoring the tears streaming down their face. Everything was just too much, everything hurt, and they couldn't figure out how to make it stop. 

After a few minutes, a gentle tapping vibrated through the air from the outside of the small plastic yellow door of the playhouse. Alex reached over and pushed it open, glaring at whoever dared disturb them. The glare slipped from their face when they saw their mom on the other side, holding a small plate with cookies that she had most likely just pulled out of the oven a few moments ago, and their favorite green cup, the cap having an attached straw that they would alternately blow bubbles through and sip some of their favorite juice from. Alex scooted back, leaving room for their Mom in the small space, which she slipped into, setting the cookies down on the floor between them and handing them the cup, pulling her own in from just outside the door. The two sat in complete silence for a few moments, until the first cookies had been eaten, before their mom looked at them softly. 

Smiling sympathetically, she signed to them, "Rough day, baby?" 

Alex dropped their gaze, their eyes suddenly tired as they nodded. Their mom reached over and tipped their chin up. 

"How about we order pizza tonight? Your dad won't be home for another couple days. We can order in tonight and have a movie night?" 

Alex felt tears well up in their eyes; their mom was the best. She was always struggling to make ends meet, and with their father making everything harder, they never got to do anything extra. Meals were made at home with the cheapest groceries available and eating out wasn't a concept that ever crossed anyone's mind. Christmas's were something that was celebrated modestly, new clothes from the thrift store and maybe a book or two being some of the best gifts around. The idea that they would order in a pizza and have a movie night made Alex feel a bit guilty. 

Before the thoughts could get too far, Alex was pulled into an awkward hug over the cookies. They felt their Mom hum, something she did to comfort them when they were young and couldn't express what was wrong. After Alex had calmed down and their legs were going numb, they pulled apart. Sitting back, Alex's mom signed again. 

"Baby, I want to. I have a bit extra this month, and I want to treat you a little this month. I know your birthday wasn't the best, I just want to make up for that a little. Can I do this for you?" 

Alex thought for half a moment and nodded, smiling softly. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

The memory faded gently and Alex in the present let their eyes close and gently open, watching a few birds migrate toward the north in the steadily warming days. They continued lying there, content to watch the clouds progress through the blue void of the sky. Slowly, another memory, that wasn't nearly as pleasant as the last one, crept in as well. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

The final bell rang, and Alex's heart sank. They had been dreading having to go home all day. His dad had just gotten back, the first time since Mom's funeral, and Alex knew from experience that tonight was not going to be a good night. 

Eventually, Alex worked up the courage needed to walk the few long blocks home and placed their backpack behind the bush in front of their house, hidden by the elements from the thick bush and the wall of the house. He opened the front door and had no warning. A fist popped out of the door before they had even fully opened it, sending a sickening crunch through Alex's face, breaking their nose. Alex fell backwards, their feet not steady enough to keep them from bouncing their head off the front walk. Dizzy and vision faded slightly around the edges, Alex was barely aware when their father lifted them up by the front of the shirt, spittle flying the only indication that there was something being said to them. 

Alex's father was a bum; criminal slime that had somehow earned their mother's love, though he never deserved it. All through Alex's life their father was drifting in and out, taunting Alex for their hearing loss, and their mother for birthing "a fuckin screw up like that little shit". Alex never liked their father and, though they never said anything to their mom, they hated him. When Alex got old enough to take a punch, their father was there to test just how many they could stand. The number had steadily increased over the years, meaning their father could spend hours alternating between beating their mom and them. Of course, their father always apologized later, said he'd go off for a bit and straighten himself out, bringing pretty gifts and flowery words every time. Alex always knew it would end the same way, but their mother had hope that their father had changed, every single time. 

Now though, everything was different. Mom had gotten sick; some illness that the doctors couldn't identify and that they had no idea how to treat. She ended up being released for in home care, which basically meant that Alex spent every waking hour outside of school taking care of their mother and keeping everything together, doing whatever they could to make sure that the bills were paid. After she died, Alex had to arrange everything, pulling the last bit of savings out of the bank and taking out a loan to make sure that she would have a burial. Their father had never shown up during the transition. He stayed away for months after their mom had been buried, and he had never even answered when the funeral director called. 

Then about 7 or 8 months after the burial, he had left an email in the inbox Alex shared with their mom. They could barely stand to open the email, but as soon as they saw their father’s name, they had fled to the bathroom, throwing up until there was nothing to throw up and then throwing up some more. When their stomach finally realized there was nothing left and stopped lurching enough for Alex to get up and read the email, they wished they hadn’t. Their father was going to be back at “his home” in three days, “and the shit hole better be spotless”. Alex was unsure exactly how to handle the situation. On one hand, Alex could run away, disappear off the grid and never look back. On the other hand, Alex was less than a month from graduating high school. Once they had that diploma, they would have a completely new world opened to them. A lack of diploma would be a handicap that they couldn’t afford. 

In the end, Alex had decided to stay, against every instinct that screamed otherwise. And that was how they ended up laying on the cool, rough concrete of the front porch, feeling a steady trickle of blood drip into their hair and around their eyes. Their nose pulsated and bled heavily, and Alex could barely make out the outline of their father’s face, still screaming, though now he seemed to be hysterically pacing back and forth, his hands waving in the air, and feet stomping. Slowly, Alex became aware of the fact that he could feel the vibrations of his father in a way that he hadn’t before. He had known that he could feel the vibrations of people and other things around him before, but never so specifically as this. Alex could distinguish between the vibrations of their father’s body and the vibrations of his father’s words. He could feel the vibrations of the cars on the road in front of their house, and the vibrations of their own heartbeat in their chest. Alex felt the vibrations of their father’s hand flying through the air as it flew closer toward Alex’s body, and they felt the vibrations of the words flying from their father’s mouth. Vaguely, they could tell that there was someone approaching, and they tried to turn their head, wanting to warn the person to stay away, but their father jerked the collar of their shirt again, and they felt the fabric rip, tearing their shirt in two down the middle. The shirt had been the only thing holding Alex up, and they soon came bouncing on the concrete once again, the world tilting on its side, and a notion of pain flowing over their skull once again. 

Alex nearly wept with relief when they felt themselves passing out, a black fog taking over their vision. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

That beating they had taken from their father, they had vowed after waking up in the hospital, would be the last one they took lying down. After that, Alex had gotten in contact with a local hero organization, picked a name, an outfit, and trained their power. They had gone from being able to feel the vibrations of everything in a 100-yard radius, to a 100-mile radius. They could now hone in on specific vibrations, and even tell between friend and foe without looking, just being able to sense it. They could take the vibrations in the air around them, and control them – direct them to their will. Decibel was a great hero, one looked up to by thousands, and that pressure sometimes became unbearable. 

A comforting set of footsteps approached. Alex opened their eyes, which had fallen closed in their musings, and met the gaze of the person they loved most in the world. 

“Hey, baby.” Morgan said, smiling down at Alex. The sun, which had started to set, cast a soft orange-pink haze over Morgan’s shoulder, softening their outline and making Alex wish they had a camera. Alex, instead, simply smiled up at them. “You wanna come with me? I made dinner.” Morgan asked while reaching down with a hand. 

Alex barely had to consider it as they reached up, clasping hands with their loved one, pulling themselves up and placing a soft peck on Morgan’s cheek before entwining their fingers. 

They may have a few bad memories. But that was okay. Because they had Morgan, and Morgan had them, for as long as they would have each other.

And that was all they needed.


End file.
